Zheng Yi (pirate)
Zheng Yi | |
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鄭一 | |
Born | Zheng Wenxian (鄭文顯) 1765 Pirate |
Spouse |
Pirate |
Allegiance | Red Flag Fleet |
Years active | Late 1700s – early 1800s |
Rank | fleet commander |
Base of operations | Leizhou Peninsula, South China Sea |
Commands | Red Flag Fleet (300 ships of 20,000–40,000 pirates) |
Zheng Yi | |
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Chinese name | |
Hanyu Pinyin | Zhèng Yīláng |
Zheng Yi (also romanised as Cheng Yud or Cheng I ; born Zheng Wenxian,
History
This section includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (January 2022) |
He was born Zheng Wenxian in 1765 in Xin'an County, Guangdong, Qing China. His family, including his father Zheng Lianchang and his younger brother Zheng San had been pirates for generations, he and other pirates were recruited as mercenaries by Tây Sơn dynasty up until 1801. In the year of about 1798, Zheng Yi kidnapped Cheung Po (simplified Chinese: 张保; traditional Chinese: 張保; pinyin: zhāng bǎo), a 15-year-old son of a Tankan fisherman and pressed him into piracy.[2] Cheung Po's natural talent helped him adapt well to his unplanned new career, and he rose swiftly through the ranks.
In 1801, the nefarious intrigues of the 26 year old
Zheng Yi used military assertion and his reputation to consolidate a coalition of competing Cantonese pirate fleets of uncertain numbers into an alliance. By 1804, this coalition was a formidable force, and one of the most powerful pirate fleets in all of China. They were known as the Red Flag Fleet.
The pirate coalition besieged
By 1806, virtually every Chinese vessel along the coast paid the pirates for ostensible protection.[3]
Death
Zheng Yi died suddenly in
See also
References
- ISBN 0-8047-1376-6.
- ^ URVIJA BANERJI (6 April 2016). "The Chinese Female Pirate Who Commanded 80,000 Outlaws". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- ^ ISBN 1-85326-384-2.
- ^ "Cheung Po Tsai and Ching Shih, Pirate Monarchs". 22 February 2016.